112 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Ava., 1902. 
The dripping-pens are connected with a slight slope, and the fluid from the 
animals’ hides passes through a pipe on either side into a barrel sunk in the 
ground, whence it is returned to the pit. So gently does this dip work that it 
should be of inestimable value for the purpose of dipping cows or mares in calf 
or foal. There is no tremendous head-over-heels plunge to take, and no danger 
of hurting the weakest or the most powerful animal. Should anything go 
wrong with the capstan—such as a horse jibbing—one man can easily push the 
bar round and raise the cage; and, in the event of a rope breaking, two men 
can lift cage and beast above the water—indeed, Mr. J. Skerman lifted it from 
the bottom single-handed. As for the patent brake (A in Fig. 5), it is so 
simple and yet so strongly constructed that its going out of order seems 
to belong to the impossibilities. 
We do not propose to describe this brake, as it is Mr. Skerman’s patent, 
and is as yet only patented, as stated, in Queensland and New South Wales, 
although steps have already been taken to protect the patent rights in the rest 
of the States of the Commonwealth and in New Zealand. Further improve- 
ments are to be made in the capstan. At present it consists of a tall central 
post (Fig. 5), near the foot of which is attached a walking-beam for horse-power 
and the brake, whilst the rope for lowering and raising the cage passes high over- 
head. Inthe new scheme the high capstan will be done away with, and the 
raising and lowering appliances will lead from the head of the cage over a 
pulley down to another pulley near the ground and thence to the brake. 
Considerable expense will thus be avoided. The work of dipping is so 
expeditiously carried out that only one minute is required after the animal is 
in the cage to submerge and raise it and let the cow out. With tractable 
animals used to being dipped they can be passed through at the rate of two per 
minute. 
The total cost of dip, cage, capstan, and brake, with all sawn timber sup- 
plied for gates, &c., is about £30, which can be reduced to £26. The Messrs. 
Skerman contract to construct their dip at the former price, but if board and 
lodging and occasional assistance are furnished by the person for whom the dip 
is being constructed, the lesser price would cover the cost, with the exception 
of the split timber for yards and crush. 
Not far from the cowshed is the manure pit, or paddock, rather. There 
again we find things so managed as to save labour. The manure pit is an 
enclosure of posts, rails, and upright slabs. In front and on an incline are 
sliprails Loose palings are placed upright against the rails inside. The 
manure is wheeled up a wooden inclined plane and tipped into the enclosure. 
When it is desired to cart it away to the field, the sliprails are taken down, 
the palings fall outward and are put aside. Then the manure is quickly 
shovelled into the carts and the railings and palings are replaced. 
Amongst the mechanical contrivances on this farm, there is one well 
worthy of notice. This is a gate crossing the road at the entrance to the 
property. We give here some illustrations of the contrivance, which almost 
explain themselves (Figs. 9, 10, and 11.) 
The gate is not one of Mr. Skerman’s inventions. It is an adaptation of a 
similar contrivance which he noticed when on a visit to another district. 
The gate proper consists simply of two uprights and three horizontal bars. 
of hardwood bolted together. On one side of the road are two ordinary round 
posts, between which is a square block on which the gate-stud rests when the: 
gate is closed. On the right-hand side are two posts about 10 feet high, 
leaning outward, and connected at the top by a cross-piece bolted to them. At 
each end of this cross-piece an iron strap is bolted on, through which passes a 
sapling about 14 feet long. The sapling is suspended at a point some 18 
inches from the butt. At this butt an iron rod is fixed, with its lower end 
attached to the gate. Two pairs of stout battens are attached, one pair to the’ 
central upright of the gate, and working on a pivot in a block near the ground 
inside the posts; the other pair are attached to the second upright from the’ 
right, and working ona pivot outside the posts. A rope depends from the end ° 
